Chiang Rai Military Court Sentences Anti-Coup Protester

Protesters gathered at the fast food restaurant, wore masks with ‘X’ and showed anti-coup placards. About 30 minutes, later the military and police officers were deployed to the McDonald’s, forcing the protesters to stop the activity.

CHIANG RAI – A military court in Chiang Rai Province on Thursday sentenced an anti-coup protester, Sarawut Kulmaturapot to three months in jail and fine of 5,000 baht, with the jail term suspended for one year. This is the first verdict given by a military court in cases related to the 22 May Coup.

Sarawut Kulmaturapot, a Chiang Rai red-shirt supporter, was charged with defying an order of the coup-making junta by organizing an anti-coup event at a McDonald’s in a mall in the province on 25 May, parallel to a gathering at a McDonald’s at Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong intersection. He pleaded guilty.

While Sarawut was not arrested at the scene, seven other protesters were arrested at the fast-food restaurant and now also face trial in a military court.

Weerayuth was arrested on 23 May 2014, a day after the coup, while he was protesting against the coup at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), near Siam Square.